The Early Time of the Trump Regime.

After the 2016 election was over, tons of Americans were shocked. Many people were massively dismayed at some xenophobic, sexist, and racist liar being selected as President by the Electoral College (not by the majority of voters as the majority of the American voters voted for Hillary Clinton). This is the new reality. The Vice President is Mike Pence of Indiana. Trump lied and said that massive voting fraud existed up to 5 million illegal votes in favor of Hillary Clinton. Multiple studies have shown that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Mike Pence after Chris Christie headed up the Trump transition team. President Barack Obama spoke with Donald Trump on November 10, 2016 on giving him advice. Allies of Trump early on were Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former presidential candidate Ben Carson, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. His wife, Melanie Trump accompanied him, and he was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump’s speech during his inauguration was filled with fear mongering rhetoric. He promoted the concept of America First. He wanted policies to benefit American workers and American factories without realizing that Americans aren’t islands. We are interconnected with the human family globally, and what benefits America should benefit the world positively without xenophobia. At the age of seventy, Trump surpassed Ronald Reagan and became the oldest person to assume the presidency, and the first without any prior government or military experience. His original cabinet has been changed so much since many of them quit, resigned, fired, or convicted for criminal wrongdoing. The Trump cabinet is the most corrupt cabinet of any Presidency in over 35 years old. Rex Tillerson was once the Secretary of State until Mike Pompeo took over in 2018. Jeff Session was once the Attorney General until William Barr replaced him. Ryan Zinke left the Secretary of Interior by 2019 and David Berhardt is the acting one. The Trump administration has been characterized by record turnover, particularly among White House staff. By the end of his first year in office, 34 percent of Trump's original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned. As of early March 2018, 43 percent of senior White House positions had turned over. Many members of his own officials have privately gone against his agenda.


During the first year of the Trump administration, he turned back the clock on many issues. He did so not only because of his hatred of Obama’s policies. He did so since he arrogantly believes in a far right view that individualism matters above the common interests of the collective people. Power is meant for the people not for the select few in an oligarchy. He permitted the confirmation of the conservative Neil Gorsuch as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. He tried to end the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He repeatedly wanted to repeal the ACA or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He failed to repeal the ACA. He labeled China as a currency manipulator and issued tariffs on China. He promoted the 2017 Shayrat missile strike in Syria without congressional approval. He opposed NATO on the grounds of nationalist reasons not on imperialist reasons. Trump used many executive orders to get his agenda going. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss said that "based on a legislative standard"—which is what the first 100 days has been judged on since the tenure of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who enacted 76 laws in 100 days including nine that were "major"—"Trump is really pretty low down on the list." By December of 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. It cut taxes on the super wealthy. It cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent. It lowered personal tax brackets, increased child tax credit, and doubled the estate tax threshold to $11.2 million, and limited the state and local tax deduction to $10,000. Most people benefiting from that law are the rich.  Households in the lower or middle class would also see a small tax increase after the tax cuts expire. The bill is estimated to increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Trump watches FOX News, and FOX News is one of his biggest allies. He doesn’t read much. He mainly works from only 11 am. to 6 pm. on many occasions He is known for making tweets constantly and using false statements. There is no question that he has an issue with the rule of law. He has contempt for the First Amendment that goes against his views. He wanted the Justice Department to investigate his critics. He refuses to agree to submit to lawful subpoenas. He restricted access of one journalist illegally. In spring of 2018, Trump told White House counsel Don McGahn that he wanted to order the DOJ to prosecute Clinton and Comey, but McGahn advised Trump that such action would constitute abuse of power and invite possible impeachment. Any press entity that exposes Trump has been criticized by Trump as "fake news.” He has called the media the enemy of the people.

On his first day in office, Trump falsely accused journalists of understating the size of the crowd at his inauguration, and called the media "among the most dishonest human beings on earth.” He has supported law enforcement to crack down on crime, and he is silent on the epidemic of police brutality in America. He wants to overhaul programs from the Obama administration that fight police brutality. In July 2017, the Department of Justice reinstated the use of asset forfeiture, which is the practice of seizing the property of crime suspects who have not been charged or convicted with a crime. This meant that local authorities in the 24 states that banned the practice or limited its use so that it could now seize property from individuals who have not even been charged with a crime if the property is forwarded to the federal government. Previously, in February 2017, when a sheriff complained about a state senator who proposed legislation to end asset forfeiture, Trump responded, "Who is the state senator? Do you want to give his name? We'll destroy his career." Trump in a July 2017 speech to police officers said that he wanted officers to rough up suspects in the police car. Even some law enforcement agencies criticized Trump over that statement. Recently, Trump has used the token talk of the First Step Act in order to obfuscate criticism of his evil policies. We know that prisoners need rehabilitation, job opportunities after they leave jail, and nonviolent drug offenders don’t deserve the same time as rapists. In August of 2017, Trump pardoned the felon Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He pardoned former black heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson (I have no issue with that pardon), Dinesh D’Souza, Scotter Libby, and other people. One of the administration's first actions was to indefinitely suspend a cut in fee rates for HUD mortgages implemented by the Obama administration. The cut in fee rates would have saved individuals with lower credit scores around $500 per year on a typical loan. In September 2017, the DOJ announced it would not defend in courts a mandate that would have extended overtime benefits to more than 4 million workers. From the Muslim ban based upon nationality to his radical immigration policy that harmed the lives of even migrant children, Trump is just an authoritarian extremist. In 2017, he put a freeze on hiring federal civilian employees, he withdrawn from the TPP, he revoked the Mexico City policy, he endorsed the Keystone XL Pipeline, and issued other policies.

The Resistance is a movement created by women (especially women of color) to fight Trump’s agenda. From the moment that he was selected President, Resistance movement members have fought for progressive views. They protested worldwide by January of 2017 in America, Europe, Asia, and throughout the world. Donald Trump is one of the most controversial Presidents in American history. From his demonization of his critics, to his vulgar slander of peaceful NFL protesters (who oppose police brutality), and to his habitual lying, Trump is infamous for his abhorrent views. The Women’s March of 2017 motivated the world to see that freedom is not to be taken for granted. If you want to be free, you have to fight for it. Many leaders of the movement are Carmen Perez, Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, Teresa Shook, Vanessa Wruble, Evvie Harmon, etc. The Resistance opposed the aim of a border wall along the Mexico-United States border, efforts to end the ACA, the withdrawal of the Paris Agreement, the evil acts of the Unite the Right rally, repeal of neutrality regulations in the Internet, etc. So, the Resistance is here to stay. Many members of such progressive movement want the impeachment or resignation of Donald Trump and his administration. .


The 2018 United States mid-term elections was one of the most important elections in American history. It caused the House of Representatives to be run by a majority of Democrats. That never happened in years. It was an election of history making in an unprecedented level for women, black people, people of color, and other minorities. It allowed progressives to show their voices. It prevented a total Republican domination of the Congress, and it made people aware that social change is still a concept to promote. The Republicans controlled the Senate with a gain of 2 seats. The 2018 elections had the highest voter turnout in midterm elections since 1914. It saw many firsts. In various referenda, numerous states voted to expand Medicaid coverage, require voter identification, establish independent redistricting commissions, legalize marijuana, repeal felony disenfranchisement laws and enact other proposals. It saw the first people in various groups like race, sex, sexuality, etc. The Democrats issued a message that focused on health care to galvanize their base of supporters to vote for them. Many candidates opposed the tax cuts for the rich, immigration policies from Trump, and Russian interference in elections. It was a blue wave election. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan became the first Muslim women elected to the House of Representatives, Ayanna Pressley became the first female African-American woman elected to the House from Massachusetts; Sharice Davids of Kansas and Deb Haaland of New Mexico became the first Native American women elected to Congress, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York became the youngest-ever female member of the House at age 29. Jared Polis, who was elected governor of Colorado, became the first openly gay man to be elected Governor Kevin Stitt, who was elected governor of Oklahoma, was elected the first Native American governor in the nation. Black women are anchors of the progressive movement in America, and they heavily were involved in the blue victories.

Over 20 black women serve in Congress as a result of the historic 2018 election. Lauren Underwood is part of the House from Illinois and she is a black woman. Lucy McBath, a gun control advocate whose son was murdered in 2012, won in Georgia’s Sixth District, flipping a seat that had been in Republican hands for nearly four decades. Jahana Hayes, a 2016 National Teacher of the Year, is the first black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress. These women’s victories in the 2018 midterm elections will make them part of the largest women congressional class in history next January — overall; more than 100 women will become members of Congress. Almost exactly 50 years to the day that Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) became the first black woman elected to Congress, the results of Election Day 2018 meant that the number of black women in Congress will climb above 20 for the first time in its history. The lesson is that if you want real change, you have to speak to the concerns of black women. That is just the truth. You can't be for human liberation unless you show unconditional support to black women. Letitia “Tish” James became the first black woman, first woman, and first African American elected to the position of New York attorney general. Illinois House of Representatives member Juliana Stratton was elected lieutenant governor of Illinois. At the local level, a group of 19 black women dubbed the “Houston 19” all won election to judgeships in Harris County, Texas. Rachael Rollins became Massachusetts’s first black district attorney. Georgia’s Stacey Abrams may have lost the election in 2018, but her call for change resonates today. Andrew Gillum’s Florida campaign for governor ended not for his victory. Yet, we still know that 2018 was a turning point to make sure that Trump is held accountable for his policies. With a majority Democratic House, you have a check. Nearing 2020, we see a new era of history.


By Timothy